The plan for the BurlingtonChristianAcademy boys’ basketball team was to make Raleigh Word of God hit outside shots to win Monday night’s non-conference game.

After a barrage of 3s from Word of God, BCA wound up on the losing end of an 81-38 home defeat.

“Our gameplan, because we knew we were a little bit outsized, was to make them shoot,” BCA coach Brian Dehart said. “They came in here (Monday) night and lit us up.”

Word of God (2-0) made 12 shots from 3-point range in the game, seven of which came on its first nine field goals. The Royals (1-1) employed a 2-3 zone defense to limit Word of God’s penetration and rebounding, giving the Holy Rams several open looks from behind the arc.

BCA played with Word of God for most of the first quarter, with the Royals’ first six points coming from Romeao Ferguson. He finished with a team-leading 13 points.

When Jamison Jeffers nailed a 3 with 2 minutes, 53 seconds left in the first quarter, BCA trailed 12-9. But Word of God switched to a box-and-1 defense to limit Jeffers’ scoring opportunities and went on a 19-2 run in a 7:35 stretch between the first and second quarters.

“I wasn’t worried about the 3s,” Jeffers said of the Holy Rams’ shooting. “We couldn’t get anything going on offense and they started doing the box-and-1 on me and it was like everything started going down. We have to get better at that.”

A 35-15 halftime advantage for Word of God quickly expanded when the Holy Rams scored the first 11 points of the second half in 1:53. An alley-oop from Josh Newkirk to Shane Whitefield provided the exclamation mark at the end of the run.

Word of God coach Quentin Jackson said his team’s defensive intensity, in switching to the box-and-1 and turning over the Royals, was the difference in getting the Holy Rams sparked to the blowout.

Newkirk, a Pittsburgh commit, led Word of God with 14 points, 11 of which came in the third quarter. His highlight was a one-hand tomahawk dunk on a fast break with 2:15 left in the third quarter.

“We did it with the defense,” Jackson said. “The defense dictated our offense and we were able to get some really easier baskets, but we had to stop them because they came out at the beginning and were playing really well.”

Playing such a high level of competition early in the season is an aspect the Royals hope gives the team early moments to grow.

“We came out slow during the second half,” Jeffers said. “We’ll be fine down the road, playing these tough opponents first.”

BCA was not only out-manned in size but also in sheer players, matching a nine-player roster against Word of God’s 13 players, 12 of whom scored.

“They just wore us down,” Dehart said. “They played into our hand and hit the 3s.”